Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Let's drown our sorrows with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream!

I did a bunch of pointless, random Facebook tagged note thingies tonight (four, to be specific), which I will now post here. Have fun reading through them. I know I had fun writing them!! :DDD


Number One

Ten Things I Wish I Could Say to Ten Different People Right Now:

1. For how amazing you are and how close we are, sometimes, you *really* piss me off...but not enough to ever hate you.
2. I sometimes wish you hadn't grown up after ninth grade and were still the same person you used to be.
3. You're one of the only people who I can never get pissed at, and any anger I feel towards you is usually gone within like two seconds. Thanks for that.
4. You're my best friend. Seriously.
5. I often wish that we never would have made up.
6. I liked you a lot better before you started being who everyone else wanted you to be.
7. I'm sorry for being blinded by other people's interpretations of you. I feel like I really missed out on getting to know you better.
8. I'm sorry for being a jackass to you most of the time. I'm also sorry that, most of the time, you're a jackass.
9. I often wonder if I misjudged you. Then you open your mouth.
10. You are seriously the sweetest, most sincere person I've ever met, and I love you for it.

(...wow, am I ever bitter...)

Nine Things about Myself:

1. "I'm only happy when it rains." :)
2. My obsession with Harry Potter is siriusly unhealthy. ...SEE WHAT I MEAN?!
3. I always say I have better taste in almost everything than everyone else. The funny thing is, I'm completely serious about it.
4. I doubt. A lot. But I still yearn to believe.
5. The only thing I like more than laughing, is making other people laugh.
6. I want to be a writer. And I want to illustrate my books, too.
7. I want to be able to speak a gazillion different languages. I'm up to about one and a half. I have a little ways to go.
8. I can't keep my room clean for the life of me. But I'm okay with that.
9. I try not to let what other people think about me effect my life...but sometimes it does.


Eight Ways to Win My Heart:

1. Love Harry Potter.
2. Don't be an asshat. Nobody wants to date someone with a hat made of ass. Seriously.
3. Have a sense of humor. The more obscure, dark, weird, and/or random, the better.
4. Be a nerd.
5. Love me for me.
6. Being a "spiritual" person is always good.
7. Don't listen to shitty music. Your taste in music does not have to be as good as mine, but it shouldn't be horribly shitty either. And believe me, this one's easy to mess up on, because there's a lot of shitty music out there.
8. Love Harry Potter.



Seven Frequent Thoughts:

1. ...What?
2. I'm hungry.
3. Well, in Harry Potter...
4. ...That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
5. Need Shockwave...
6. Seriously, STFU. Right now.
7. Okay, now what does that mean in English?


Six Things I Do Before I Fall Asleep:

1. Wash face/brush teeth/put on pjs
2. Make sure that I have some homework done, and that I'll have enough time to finish the incomplete stuff in the morning.
3. Think about what I have to do the next day.
4. Set alarm.
5. Put on a random DVD (usually whatever box set I'm currently watching)
6. Fall asleep to TV and my thoughts.


Five People Who Mean a Lot:

1. God
2. Family
3. Friends
4. J. K. Rowling
5. Dan Rad


Four Things I'm Wearing Right Now:

1. Glasses
2. Undergarments
3. Earrings
4. Headband

Three Songs/Bands/Artists I listen to Often:

1. Tegan and Sara
2. Manchester Orchestra
3. Antony and the Johnsons


Two Things I Want to Do Before I die:

1. Write a novel
2. Make enough good decisions to balance out all the bad decisions.

One Confession:

I don't like half of the people that think I like them. Whoops.




Number Two (Dinner with a Gypsy)

Directions:
1. Put your iPod, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS
4. Pick ten Random friends who like music as much as you do and tag them.

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Back in the Village (Iron Maiden)

2. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Asleep in the Chest Cavity of the Depraved (ANGELswing) [...hahahaha...]

3. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
A Cosmic Telephone Call (Kali Bahlu)

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Sugarcoated Poison Apple (MxPx)

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE PURPOSE?
27 (Breaking Point)

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Belt (Mitch Hedberg)

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Come Rain or Come Shine (Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers)

8. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Harbour (Moby)

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Symphony No. 95 In C Minor, IV, 3 (Franz Joseph Haydn)

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Trippin' (Kittie)

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Odyssey (Orgy)

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
The Camper Velourium II: Backend of Forever (Coheed and Cambria)

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU GROW UP?
The Pill (Atmosphere)

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Hollow [Constantly Consuming Mix] (A Perfect Circle)

16. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Moya (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) [...that's weird...and unfortunate...]

17. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Kiss the Sky (Dear Theophilus) [...:)...]

18. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Chance (dcTalk)

19. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Hop a Plane (Tegan & Sara)

20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Eric's Song (12 Stones)

21. SONG THEY WILL PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
You Stand Above Me (Antony and the Johnsons)

22. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Dinner with a Gypsy (I Am Legend)



Number Three

Post your name and I will do each of the following:
1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
4. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
5. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
6. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
7. I'll tell you my favorite thing about you.
8. I'll tell you my least favorite thing about you.
9. If you play, you MUST post this on yours



Number Four

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 16 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you (or because I know you!)

1) I could live on mashed potatoes and bread. Those are seriously like, the two best foods ever.

2) I've never gotten a speeding ticket.

3) I'm really good at pulling essays for school out of my ass. And not only am I good at the action, but the essays themselves are really good. Phenomenal even. Yeah, I'm kinda bomb like that.

4) I have an entire, GINORMOUS wardrobe that is completely full of art and craft supplies.

5) I have strong opinions about most things. And I'm not afraid to tell you that mine are right and yours are wrong. :)

6) I crack my wrists. A lot.

7) I'm totally addicted to caffeine.

8) I once changed out of shorts and a skirt into a pair of jeans while driving my car.

9) My favorite cookies are Icebox Cookies from the Cold Spring Bakery in Cold Spring, Minnesota. That is the only town that you can buy them from. And once, I drove about 45 minutes out of my way just to get them.

10) Everyone knows that I'm really weird, but I'm A LOT weirder than anyone but my family probably knows.

11) One time I wore the same pair of socks for almost a whole week.

12) I love peanut butter and bacon bit sandwiches. I also love cream cheese and bacon bit sandwiches. Mostly, I love bacon bits.

13) I have nine piercings on my right ear. I'm going to make it ten.

14) I love to sing (especially in the shower). Just not in front of people.

15) Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is quite possibly the sexiest man alive.

16) And even though he's 62, if ever given the chance, I would totally bone him.




~o~*~o~

"I hate so much about the things that you choose to be."
-Michael Scott, in reference to Toby Flenderson on The Office

Sunday, November 16, 2008

How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain.

So, it's currently 8:26pm on a Sunday night as I am writing this, and I still have yet to start my homework. Now, normally, this wouldn't be a big deal. I'd normally just pull that one essay out of my ass, finish up a worksheet for French, and altogether ignore my Calc homework, like every other night. However, on this particular night, I don't just have a simple English essay and half-finished French worksheet. Tonight, I've got a little bit more. Let's make a list, shall we?

AP Calculus: Review problems, studying for No Calculator Unit Test tomorrow, and Calculator Permitted Unit Test on Tuesday.
American Government: Nothing, actually, which I guess is one good thing
English: A synthesis essay on some packet we read last week for Frankenstein...and, for the first time in my life, I have no idea what to write for this. Also, I have about five other assignments/essays I haven't turned in for this class that I still need to get finished and turned in so I don't fail. :P
Gym: Read through two self-defense packets, familiarize myself with the information contained in them.
AP Biology: An entire study guide (it's like six pages, and we were supposed to be doing it over the course of the last three or so weeks), two test essays, and studying for unit test tomorrow.
CIS French IV: Three or so worksheets from our workbook packets, some reading from our text book, write the last three-fourths of our script for our speaking quiz on Wednesday, and studying said script so I can memorize it by then.

So yeah...I'm a bit overwhelmed in the homework department here. You think I would've started this on Friday, and spent most of yesterday working on all this stuff, finishing off today with some good studying. But instead, I'm sitting here, now at 8:34pm on Sunday night, and I haven't started any of this. And instead of working on this stuff now, I'm writing a blog about how I should work on it, but I'm still failing to do so.

Wow, what's up with that?

I'd like to blame it all on a case of Senioritis. And, quite honestly, part of that does play into this. Especially since I'm going to Normandale next year, and though I have yet to apply (I know, just one more thing I keep putting off), I'm about 99% positive I'm getting in, because I'm not retarded, and currently have a B+ average with a 27 ACT score and did PSEO there during my junior year, which, by Normandale standards, makes me a freaking genius. But I digress...

Despite the fact that part of my lack of severe procrastination and "I don't give a shit" attitude is due to this "Senioritis," fact of the matter is, I've been doing this for far longer than this year. I mean, I've been procrasinating for years. And I mean years; I honestly remember putting off my first major project until the night before it was due when I was in fifth grade. Seriously. By now, I'm a pro at waiting until the last minute and pulling shit out of my ass (no pun intended).

But even with that, I've never been this bad. In the past, I've still always gotten the work done, even if it meant staying up until un-godly hours of the morning to do so. Don't get me wrong; I've missed more than a few assignments, and there have been numerous times where I haven't done my homework, but really - this is a bit ridiculous.

I think maybe it's just that I really don't care as much anymore, as obvious and/or as stupid as that may sound. It's like, I leave home at 7:30 in the morning, and literally don't get home until 7:30/7:45 at night. That's 12 hours of my day that I've spent at work and school. And I'm sorry, but the last thing I want to do at the end of a day is a shitload of homework. The same applies for weekends, too; at the end of a week spent at work and school, and staying up extremely late those nights when I actually do my homework, I just want to be able to sleep in a little on Saturday, and then get up and, for once, spend a little time doing what I want to do, not what I have to do.

It sucks that I'm forced to do a gazillion hours of homework every night (and a gazillion times a gazillion on nights like tonight when I've been putting everything off all weekend), when, in just over six months time, I'll be out of this school and done with high school entirely. And I hate that I have to do this to "prove" that I'm smart and diligent or something. I know I'm smart, and I know that, when it comes to something important to me, that I am diligent and responsible. That may sound cocky as hell, but damnit, I know that I'm intelligent and creative and smarter than a lot of the people I know, but that I just don't always apply myself because I think that a lot of what we do in school is so retarded and so pointless, that I feel like I'm wasting my time trying to do it. Again, call it cocky and arrogant and bigheaded if you want, but fuck, I know it's true. And it sucks that this is how it is.

But you know what sucks even more? The fact that I'm going to be starting this all over again when I go to college next year.

I used to look forward to college. But after attending college last year, I realized it's much the same as high school, except that more kids smoke and the parking lot's a lot fuller and I don't know nearly as many people. And the classes are a lot more intense and the teacher's care less if you have other stuff going on outside of their class and people are less likely to smile at you in the hallways and I feel a lot more like I'm just walking through the hallways without any purpose.

I don't know...all I do know is, I'm not looking forward to going back there anymore than I'm looking forward to doing all my homework tonight. And it sucks, because based on what everyone else has told me, I need at least a basic college degree to get anywhere in life these days. And if I don't have one? I'll be working at Lifetouch for the next fifty years of my life, something that seems even more depressing.

All I want to do with my life is write and paint and travel and love and laugh and live. But I feel like my entire life right now, and for the next fifty-odd years or so of my life until I retire, is just going to be one boring day after the next, where I'm either in school, or working to pay for school or my home or my car or my life in general. And it's really depressing. Maybe this is just the part of my brain that is scared of leaving high school because it means I'm giving up the last 18 years of my life, giving up on my childhood and my dreams and everything that it was and is to be me, in order to go out into a giant world that's scary and either super unpredictable or super predictable, where I'm going to have to work everyday just to make ends meet and never have anytime for myself until I retire, at which point I'll probably be so old I won't have the strength or ability to do what I want anymore. Maybe it's just me trying to cling to what I've always known and lived and what I will soon be ripped away from. But if that's the case, really, what am I clinging to? I'm not saying that my life over the last 18 years has been terrible, but there are a lot of things that I've gone through that I never want to repeat again. And if this is just the beginning...well, quite frankly, I'm not sure I'm ready for what comes next.

I honestly don't know where this is going anymore...what started as a post half an hour ago about me not doing homework has now turned into a post that is deeply rooted in fear about moving on, but also a fear of staying put. I don't know...I have no idea what to do with myself anymore. Somehow, I thought senior year would be different, you know? And it is, I suppose; just not in the way I planned. Fuck.

~o~*~o~

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older.
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
-Time, Pink Floyd

All you touch and all you see,
Is all your life will ever be.
-Breathe, Pink Floyd

Is this the real life,
Is this just fantasy,
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.
-Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen

Monday, September 15, 2008

Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals ... except the weasel.

Standing on a corner watching all the girls go by
Standing on a corner watching all the girls go by
Brother you don't know a nicer occupation
Matter of fact, neither do I
Than standing on a corner watching all the girls
Watching all the girls, watching all the girls go by

I'm the cat that got the cream
Haven't got a girl but I can dream
Haven't got a girl but I can wish
So I'll take me down to Main street
And that's where I select my imaginary dish

Standing on a corner watching all the girls go by
Standing on a corner giving all the girls the eye
Brother if you've got a rich imagination
Give it a whirl, give it a try
Try standing on a corner watching all the girls
Watching all the girls, watching all the girls go by

Brother you can't go to jail for what you're thinking
Or for that woo look in your eye
Standing on the corner watching all the girls
Watching all the girls, watching all the girls go by





Powder your face with sunshine

Put on a great big smile
Make up your eyes with laughter
Folks will be laughing with you in a little while
Whistle a tune of gladness
Blue never was in style
The future's brighter when hearts are lighter
So smile smile smile

Powder your face with sunshine
Put on a great big smile
Make up your eyes with laughter
Folks will be laughing with you in a little while
Whistle a tune of gladness
Blue never was in style
The future's brighter when hearts are lighter
Future's brighter, hearts are lighter
When you're wearing a great big smile




'm praying for rain in California
So the grapes can grow and they can make more wine
And I'm sitting in a honky in Chicago
With a broken heart and a woman on my mind

I matched the man behind the bar for the jukebox
And the music takes me back to Tennessee
And he asked who's the fool in the corner crying
I say a little ole wine drinker me

I came here last week from down in Nashville
'Cause my baby left for Florida on a train
I thought I'd get a job and just forget her
But in Chicago, the broken heartache's still the same

I matched the man behind the bar for the jukebox
And the music takes me back to Tennessee
When they ask who's the fool in the corner crying
I say a little ole wine drinker me
I say a little ole wine drinker me




How lucky can one guy be
I kissed her and she kissed me
Like the fella once said
Ain't that a kick in the head

The room was completely black
I hugger her and she hugged back
Like the sailor said, quote "ain't that a hole in the boat"
My head keeps spinning
I go to sleep and keep grinning
If this is just the beginning, my life's gonna be beautiful
I've got sunshine enough to spread
It's like the fella said
Tell me quick ain't love like a kick in the head
Like the fella once said
Ain't love like a kick in the head

Like the sailor said, quote "ain't that a hole in the boat"
My head keeps spinning
I go to sleep and keep grinning
If this is just the beginning, my life's gonna be beautiful

She's telling me we'll be wed
She's picked out a kink size bed
I couldn't fell any better or I'd be sick
Tell me quick, oh ain't love a kick
Tell me quick, ain't love a kick in the head





...I love Dean Martin like a diehard Snarry shipper likes the HPSS bumlove...

~o~*~o~


"The winner takes it all
The loser standing small
Beside the victory
That’s her destiny
"
-
The Winner Takes it All, Abba (or, as I prefer it, Meryl Streep)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I've gone back in time to when dinosaurs weren't just confined to zoos.

I thought I'd post a copy of my research paper from my Freshman Comp course from Normandale last year on here, because a friend of mine wanted to read it. So yeah... since I'm too lazy to upload the actual thing to either an e-mail and send it or another site where everyone can read it all formatted and whatnot, I decided to just post it here. Note that because of that, it's obviously missing a title and table of contents page, and the formatting that I do have is really terrible, but whatever. I'm not really expecting anyone other than her to read it, so yeah. But if you're interested in the topic, give it a little skim. And if you're really interested in what a paper of this magnitude is like when you write it all the night before it's due, DEFINITELY check this out. :) So with that, I give you:

The Music Piracy Controversy: A Hindrance or an Aid to the Music Industry?



Music piracy is a controversial issue in today’s society. There have been many disputes and cases filed over whether or not an individual has the right to use an electronic medium to take from or share a piece of music with another person based on the United States copyright laws surrounding it. And with the rise of technology and global communication over the last decade, there has also been a rise in music piracy. However, while some companies – like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) – still think that electronically downloading, burning, and file-sharing music illegally is harmful, many recording artists who are the “victims” of piracy are now in favor of it, and are actually embracing it and using it to their advantage.

Many organizations today are trying to tell society that not only is music piracy illegal, but that it’s also morally wrong. MusicUnited, an organization that is trying to publicize how and why piracy is wrong and the negative effects that it can have has said, “Most of us would never even consider stealing something – say, a picture or a piece of clothing – from a friend’s house. Our sense of right and wrong keeps most of us from doing something so selfish and anti-social. Yet when it comes to stealing digital recordings of copyrighted music, people somehow seem to think the same rules don’t apply – even though criminal penalties can be as high as 5 years in prison or $250,000 in fines,” (MusicUnited). Basically, what they’re saying is, stealing is stealing. Taking a book from a store without paying for it is stealing, and stealing is illegal. Most people know this, and would have the common sense not to do something like this. The same idea holds true for a song, however; if one downloads a song from the internet without paying for it and without the artist or record company’s consent, then one is stealing the song, which is an illegal action. It’s as simple as that.

However, some people still have trouble comprehending that, because MusicUnited, the RIAA, and other organizations are continually trying to get out the word about the negative effects that music piracy has on bands and record companies, and that the action itself is illegal. According to statistics found on the RIAA’s official website, global piracy causes, “$12.5 billion of economic losses every year.” (RIAA). Also, there are, “71,060 U.S. jobs lost, a loss of $2.7 million dollars in workers’ earning, and a loss of $422 million in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million lost in corporate income and production taxes,” (RIAA) every year due to music piracy. Those are some very startling figures. Basically, what all those numbers mean is that the recording industry is losing very large sums of money every year due to music piracy, and therefore, they cannot afford to pay employees that work for them, resulting in many job losses. These statistics are what have led the RIAA to believe that music piracy is harmful, and needs to be stopped.

There are also laws surrounding music piracy that are further backing up the RIAA’s case. According to federal copyright law, there are, “severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, rental or digital transmission of copyrighted sound recordings. (Title 17, United States Code, Sections 501 and 506). The FBI investigates allegations of criminal copyright infringement and violators will be prosecuted,” (RIAA). If a song or an album is copyrighted, and one uploads the album onto the internet or downloads it from a website without paying for it or without the consent of the record company and/or band, then one is, in effect, breaking copyright law and stealing the album, which could result in one being arrested and/or fined.

But, again, it is not simply legal issues that give anti-piracy supporters a reason to prosecute those that choose to download music. As mentioned previously, morals play a large role on their decisions and actions, and so do the livelihoods of all the musicians who make the music. Many people fighting in the battle against piracy feel that by downloading music illegally, one is disrespecting the band whose music one is downloading, and that one is preventing said band from earning money for the work that they are doing. MusicUnited has stated that stealing music, “…stifles the careers of new artists and up-and-coming bands.” (MusicUnited). They believe that by downloading an album, one is preventing a sale to the band. This means that, while one may have a copy of the album, that one is not actually giving anything back to the band for having it. By stealing the music, one would be stealing money from the band, which can damage the band’s career, especially if they are not very well-established.

Not only that, but the site also goes on to say , “The cost of recording and promoting a major album can easily top $1 million, and only one out of every ten ever turns a profit.” (MusicUnited). Albums are extremely expensive to create and market and produce, and by downloading an album without paying for it, one would be making it harder for a band to make a profit from their CD. Based on all of these facts, one can see that there are many moral and legal issues surrounding the controversy over music piracy, and why it has the potential to be harmful to those involved in the music industry.

It is not only organizations who are sharing their views on the music piracy issue, however. Many bands and artists are now coming forward and sharing their personal views on illegally downloading music. And, surprisingly enough, not all of them see it as harmful. Obviously, there are many who agree with the RIAA’s stance on music piracy and believe that it is wrong and hurting their careers. Multi-Platinum Award-Winning artist Eve has been quoted as saying, “We work really hard. We love our fans and we appreciate the love, but don’t steal from us, support us. Go in the stores and buy the records.” (MusicUnited). Musician Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits has said, “You might as well walk into a record store, put the CD's in your pocket and walk out without paying for them,” (MusicUnited). These artists, obviously, are just as opposed to illegally downloading music as the RIAA seems to be. They feel that, with all of the hard work they do, they should be able to profit from their work. And those that illegally download are stealing their music and are preventing them from receiving the money that they claim to rightfully deserve. The Barenaked Ladies, a famous Canadian band, says, “When the Gap went online, T-shirts didn't become free,” (MusicUnited). They are stating that, just because one can find music online, doesn’t mean that one is allowed to download it at no cost. These artists – and many others, including music-icon Madonna, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Elton John, three-time Grammy winner Diddy, rap-icon Eminem, and Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, to name a few – believe that uploading, downloading, and file-sharing music is, first and foremost, against the law, and second, damaging each of them as a band or musician. And they would all prefer to see music piracy put to a stop.

Yet, not all bands agree. In fact, many popular artists are in favor of downloading music for free, and are using it as a way to boost their sales as opposed to lowering them. Not only that, but there are many musicians who feel that some of the facts that the RIAA is coming up with are not true, and are not a very good representative of the general population of music lovers.

One of the most outspoken people about music piracy and views on it in the musical world is singer/songwriter Janis Ian. Since 1957, Ian has been producing music professionally, and has been nominated for and won many awards for her music, in addition to being known world-wide for it (Ian, Wikipedia). Ian differs from many artists in the fact that she feels that music piracy can actually be good for an artist’s career. She has written two major articles on music piracy on her official site stating her beliefs, and the overall theme of both is that the RIAA has mixed up and misinterpreted a lot of their facts, and that music piracy can actually do more good than harm. (Ian, Debacle and Fallout).

Ian has asked, “Who gets hurt by free downloads? Save a handful of super-successes like Celine Dion, none of us. We only get helped,” (Ian, Debacle). She claims that, apart from really well-known, well-paid musicians, not many artists today are really suffering due to piracy; if anything, they are only being helped by it. In fact, she has stated that, since she began placing free downloads of some of her songs on her site, her merchandise sales have increased by 300%. (Ian, Fallout). That is a significant percentage for sales to go up, and she believes that it is directly related to the fact that she is now letting fans download her music for free.

Ian isn’t the only one who believes in piracy, however. Many other bands and artists are pro-piracy as well. Radiohead, an Electronic Alt-Rock band from England, released their album In Rainbows last year as a free digital download. Fans did not have to go out and pay money to buy the album when it came out; instead, they could download it all directly off the band’s site for free (Radiohead). Trent Reznor, the popular industrial musician behind Nine Inch Nails, is a believer in illegally file-sharing songs, even boasting about having an account on the now late torrent-based file-sharing site OiNK (Buskirk).

Reznor, who recently split from his label, also decided to release his newest album in much the same way as Radiohead by offering the first nine tracks for free download off of his website. If the more diehard fans wanted more, they could get a, “$5 download of all 36 tracks, a $10 two CD set, a $75 deluxe edition package and a $300 ultra-deluxe limited edition package which featured a Reznor autograph, along with a variety of other merchandise,” (Strobel). He charged money to those fans who really wanted to pay for the album out of their love and respect for him, but allowed others to download a part of the album for free if they wanted to. Because of the respect that many fans have for Reznor, “the limited edition [$300] package…sold out all 2,500 copies,” (Strobel). Reznor proved here that a band does not need to professionally market their CDs and have a price put on them for people to buy; allowing the fans the option of downloading an album could potentially boost record sales.

Other artists, too, including Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra and the members of the band Staple, allow fans to download, upload, and share their music for free. And they all claim their record sales haven’t been hurt because of it. Some bands have also embraced file-sharing because they feel that they are spreading the word about their band more effectively by allowing people to keep passing on their music to others free of charge. In an interview with ThEbAkEr, a female musician who is part of the underground experimental black metal band DarkGrandpa, she stated that she and her band allow their fans to download a good portion of their music, because, “It’s nice to be able to show the old fans our new stuff and introduce new fans to what we have to offer,” (ThEbAkEr). Others feel the same way, stating that it’s easier for people to hear about and listen to them if their fans are able to freely spread their music around without having to purchase a new copy of the CD each time. Ian has claimed that artists do not become successful strictly through CD sales, but through “exposure,” (Ian, Debacle). She says that people aren’t going to buy a band’s CDs if they don’t know who the band is; they need exposure in order for people to hear about them and buy their CDs in the first place. And she believes that downloading albums on the internet for free is a great way for a band to gain this necessary exposure (Ian, Debacle). By downloading or sharing copies of music by an artist, individuals are getting to hear what said artist sounds like without having to pay full price for their CD. Before going out and spending money on a CD that one has the chance of not even enjoying, one could download or get a burned copy of the album to “preview” the tracks first. And if one likes the CD enough, one can then go out and purchase a copy of it.

Many bands are also beginning to see more eye-to-eye with those who are pro-piracy because they feel as though what the RIAA is saying is a misinterpretation of the facts. They say that, while the record companies and music industry in general may be losing some money from illegal downloads, that they themselves are not experiencing much – if any – negative effects from it. Popular mainstream rapper 50 Cent has been quoted as saying, “What is important for the music industry to understand is that this [music piracy] really doesn't hurt the artists.” (50 Cent). Janis Ian also believes that RIAA and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) are being ridiculous in saying that downloading is costing her money and hurting her record sales. She says, “The premise of all this ballyhoo is that the industry (and its artists) are being harmed by free downloading. Nonsense,” (Ian, Debacle). She believes that the case that the RIAA is trying to make about piracy hurting a band’s record sales is false. In fact, she goes on to say that, “…after 37 years as a recording artist, [and] creating 25 albums for major labels,” she’s, “never once received a royalty check that didn’t show that I [she] owed them money,” (Ian, Debacle). She claims that she has made most of her money from touring and shows, merchandise, updating her own site, writing articles, etc. This gets her money and exposure, which results in a larger profit for her. The idea, then, that piracy has been hurting her income is preposterous. One must ask the question, then, as to whether the organizations who are against piracy are more worried about the impact it’s having on the artist’s finances or their own.

Courtney Love, widow of grunge legend Kurt Cobain and singer and frontwoman of the band Hole, doesn’t necessarily agree with music piracy, but does agree with the thought that the bands are the ones losing the most profit from sales due to piracy is ridiculous. Much like Ian, Love claims that the labels these days are making the most money. According to her, many musicians have even had to file bankruptcy to make any money or get out of terrible contracts with their labels, because, despite the fact that their albums are selling millions of copies and earning them millions of dollars, they’re not seeing any of that money; their labels are getting it all. (Love). She has cited different artists and groups that this has happened to over the years, including TLC and Toni Braxton (Love).

Love has mentioned on her internet blog that the RIAA is upset about piracy because it is coming out of their pockets, not the artists. In fact, because of the way that some companies are interpreting copyright laws, many are claiming that they own the rights to a musician’s song as opposed to the musician’s themselves owning it. Many artists are opposed to this, and Love is one of them. She explains her reasoning like this: “When you look at a legal line on a CD, it says copyright 1976 Atlantic Records or copyright 1996 RCA Records. When you look at a book, though, it’ll say something like copyright 1991 Susan Faludi, or David Foster Wallace. Authors own their books and license them to publishers. When the contract runs out, writers get their books back. But record companies on our copyrights forever,” (Love). What Love is saying here is that, unlike author’s who own the rights to their books, most musicians don’t own the rights to their own music; their labels are the ones that own it and are allowed to make all decisions concerning it.

In the interview with ThEbAkEr, this musician thought the RIAA owning the rights to a band’s music was, “stupid,” (ThEbAkEr). While not signed to a label, she still believes that labels have too much control over their bands music, and that they have more rights than they should. She believes that most decisions concerning piracy should be left up to the band or musician, not their label (ThEbAkEr). And, because artists want the freedom to make their own decisions and own their own music, many are leaving their labels. According to Love, many bands are choosing to leave their labels once their contract expires so that they can manage themselves. This allows them to have more money and take all their profits for themselves, without having to pay their record companies, and allows them to make more of their own decision (Love). Reznor, mentioned earlier as splitting from his label and producing and marketing his own music, has already done this, and many bands are sure to follow him.

What does this all mean for the RIAA, then, and how does it relate to piracy? Simple: if bands start disagreeing with and leaving their labels, said labels aren’t going to be getting any money. And therefore, neither is the RIAA. According to Orson Scott Card, author of more than thirty novels and a regular contributor to the online political newspaper, Ornery American, record companies are realizing that, “musicians don’t need them [the record companies] anymore,” (Card). And if a musician doesn’t need a label anymore, that means less and less money for the label. Which is why some argue that so many companies and organizations are so dead-set against piracy: they don’t want to lose a profit. After hearing this and examining how the RIAA has misinterpreted and not been completely honest about some of their facts and statistics, one must wonder if they are not just pushing the issue because they are most worried about losing money for themselves. Of course there are some who must have the artist’s best interests at heart, and indeed, there are many artists who against illegally downloading music. However, one must also note that it is interesting that most of the hype and controversy surrounding music piracy comes from those who are being most greatly effected by it, and yet, are not making the music in the first place.

So, this all leaves one with a few final thoughts: What does one do about the issue of music piracy? Is there a way to resolve it? Do companies like the RIAA just continue to slowly track down and sue each music pirate one by one? Or, can artists and their labels learn to adapt to piracy?

According to a 1996 article by James Boyle in the New York Times, “If classroom copying is sharply curtailed, if we give someone a software patent over basic functions, at some point public domain will be so diminished that future creators will be prevented from creating because they won’t be able to afford the materials they need. An intellectual property system has to insure that the fertile public domain is not converted into a fellow landscape of walled private plots,” (Boyle). What he is saying is that, if we keep putting into effect new kinds of copyright laws, and we keep preventing people from using material that has already been used, that, eventually, no one is going to be able to create anything new anymore. In effect, creating more, tougher laws isn’t necessarily going to make things better; if anything, in the long run, it could actually makes things worse.

Instead, labels, companies, and musicians need to try a number of other ways to go about relating to the piracy issue. Card has offered some suggestions on how to lower file-sharing, beginning with just telling people to cut back. He has said that these people in charge should not outright tell those that are downloading to stop or arrest them for it as the RIAA has been doing, but “scorn” them for it. He also suggests that the record companies should get rid of the, “piracy hurts sales crap,” and should, “drop CD prices to a reasonable level,” (Card). And, most importantly, “start treating the artists better,” and, “stop threatening…[people] with ludicrous prosecution,” (Card). He is saying that, while labels still have a right to profit from music sales and therefore be angry because they are down, that the ways in which they are going about to prevent this are only making matters worse. Instead of suing everyone and telling them to quit right this second, they should just tell music pirates to cut back on the amount they download and support the artists they love by occasionally buying a new CD. And if labels lower CD prices to a more reasonable level, this should encourage people to buy more CDs. By learning to adapt to the issue instead of opposing it, the RIAA will not only be saving a lot of time and money, but, if done properly, could be making more money in the long run.

Labels also need to realize that society and technology today is different than it was five, ten, or even twenty years ago. Anthony G. Gorry, a professor of management and computer science at Rice University, has said that music companies really need to learn to adapt to the increasing amount of technological advances. By simply calling Person-To-Person (P2P) sharing, “theft,” they are overlooking the technology that has allowed that to be so. He claims that today’s kids are raised in a different society, and have different beliefs relating to technology and illegally downloading music, which music companies fail to recognize (Gorry). He believes that as technology advances and changes, that more and more people are seeing it as a better way to get what they want without any negative effects, and that many believe that piracy isn’t wrong. Because of this, companies need to learn to adapt and somehow embrace this, because, as time goes on, it’s only going to increase. And being so thoroughly opposed to it is going to get them nowhere. Companies are already starting to this a little bit. When posed with the question as to whether CD burners should be outlawed, since many people are using them to burn illegal copies of CDs, the RIAA has stated they do not believe that is a good way to go about things. They believe that, while burners are obviously being used to make illegal copies of CDs, that CD burners and other “burning” or “copying” devices should not be outlawed. They have claimed that, “Devices and technology are not the problem. It’s when people use technology to break the law that we take issue,” (RIAA). In other words, they want people to use CD burners and other technological devices, but in a responsible, legal way. This still isn’t adapting quite as much as they could – or should – be adapting, but it is a start and is showing that they are finally beginning to acknowledge that some things in technology are almost encouraging people to pirate music, and that it would be virtually impossible to completely get rid of it based on that.

Finally, it has been stated by many that one of the best ways to go about eliminating piracy is to make products that consumers will enjoy for a reasonable price. Ian has stated in one of her articles on piracy that, “It’s difficult to convince an educated audience that artists and record labels are about to go down the drain because they, the consumer, are downloading music. Particularly when they’re paying $50-$125 a piece for concert tickets, and $15.99 for a new CD they know costs less than a couple of dollars to manufacture and distribute,” (Ian, Debacle.) She believes that part of the reason that people pirate music so much is not just because it’s free and easy and technology allows them to do so, but because the cost of CDs, concert tickets, and other merchandise is just too expensive. She asks later in her article Fallout, “Do I think consumers, one the industry starts making product they want to buy, will still buy, even though they can download? Yes. Water is free, but a lot of us drink bottled water because it tastes better. You can get coffee at the office, but you’re likely to go to Starbucks…and bring it back to the office with you, because that coffee tastes better. When record companies start making CDs that offer consumers a reason to buy them, consumers will buy them. The songs may be free online, but the CDs will taste better,” (Ian, Fallout.) What Ian is saying here is that, regardless of whether the albums are available to download for free online or not, that if companies start producing good quality, affordable material that their consumers will want to buy, that the issue of piracy will not be as big of a deal. Reznor has already proven this in marketing his last album. Again, part of the album was put up for free download online, but fans could also choose to pay money for it as well. And because it contained a lot of material that they wanted and liked, his fans ended up buying all 2,500 copies of the $300 set. (Strobel). This shows that, given a quality product that is marketed right and comes with items that they want to have, that fans will always buy music, regardless of whether or not the album is already online. Companies need to adapt to this and start marketing their products in a better, more affordable way, and start giving their audiences exactly what it is that they want to have. In doing so, they can stop worrying about piracy being such a huge issue, because more will be willing to buy than download.

There is indeed much controversy when it comes to the issue of music piracy. Many companies, including the RIAA, believe that by downloading a song, one is stealing it based on copyright law and is therefore committing an illegal act, and there are a number of artists who feel the same way. Record companies feel as though they are being robbed of their income because they are not making enough profit off of CD sales anymore. Yet, more and more bands are beginning to embrace the concept of music piracy, and are starting to see it as a way to get them new exposure and new fans. And because some don’t agree with the ways in which their labels are claiming rights to music that they didn’t even create, bands are beginning to leave their labels in favor of producing music on their own; some, such as Radiohead, Trent Reznor, and even Janis Ian, even going as far as to put tracks up for free download on their websites. Artists are beginning to use the concept of piracy to their advantage and learning to adapt to it. And if record companies would be willing to do the same, in addition to working on a better way to market CDs and merchandise and sell them at a more reasonable price, they too would find that, while the songs may still be available for free download online, that more consumers will start buying CDs again. By learning to adapt to advances in technology and the changing thoughts of consumers that make up the largest part of the music industry’s sales, music piracy will no longer be an issue. If anything, in the long run, it will end up helping artists to make more sales than hinder them. As Janis Ian has stated at the end of her Fallout article, “America has always exported its culture; that is our number one route into the hearts of the rest of the world. Instead of shutting that down, let’s run with the new model, and be the first and best at it. It’s a brave new world out there, and somebody’s got to grab it,” (Ian, Fallout).



Works Cited



Buskirk, Eliot Van. “Reznor vs. Radiohead: Innovation Smackdown.” Wired. 09 Apr 2008.
<http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2008/03/reznor_radiohead>.

Card, Orson Scott. "The Harms of Online Music Sharing Are Exaggerated." At Issue: Internet
Piracy. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints
Resource Center. Gale. Normandale Community College. 02 Apr. 2008
<http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID
=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ
3010337203&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGro
upName=mnanorman&version=1.0>.

50 Cent, "http://recproaudio.blogspot.com/2007/12/50-cent-piracy-hurting-my-label-
artists.html." Recproaudio: Miscellanious Music. 09 Dec 2007. 10 Apr 2008
<http://recproaudio.blogspot.com/2007/12/50-cent-piracy-hurting-my-label-artists.html>.

Gorry, Anthony G. "Many People Do Not View Online Music Sharing as Wrong." At Issue:
Internet Piracy. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing
Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Normandale Community College. 09 Apr. 2008
<http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID
=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010337204&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGro
upName=mnanorman&version=1.0>.

Ian, Janis. "FALLOUT - A Follow Up to The Internet Debacle." JanisIan.com. 01 Aug 2002. 10
Apr 2008 <http://www.janisian.com/articles-perfsong/Fallout%20-%20rev%2011-23-05.pdf>.

Ian, Janis. "THE INTERNET DEBACLE - AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW." JanisIan.com. May
2002. 10 Apr 2008 <http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html>.

"Ian, Janis." Wikipedia. 3 Apr 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janis_ian>.

Love, Courtney. "Courtney Love does the math: The controversial singer takes on record label
profits, Napster and "sucka VCs."." Salon.com. 14 June 2000. 13 Apr 2008
<http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/print.html>.

MusicUnited, MusicUnited.org. 02 Apr 2008 <http://musicunited.org/>.

Radiohead. 09 Apr 2008. <http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/>.

RIAA, "Facts and Figures." 02 Apr 2008 <http://riaa.org/keystatistics.php>.

Strobel, Dan. "Trent Reznor: Singlehandedly Fixing the Music Industry?." The Campus Word.
23 Mar 2008. 14 Apr 2008 <http://www.thecampusword.com/content/view/2668/589/>.

ThEbAkEr. Personal interview. 14 Apr 2008.



~o~*~o~

"I don't need air
I don't need to breathe
And I don't need rest
I don't have time to sleep
'Cause I've got you... and you've got me
And that's all we need"
-When I Get Up, Tegan and Sara

Friday, August 29, 2008

When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power...like God must feel when he's holding a gun.

Wow, three posts in one day! Although, in all fairness, those last two were just because I forgot to upload them on here when I wrote them like four months ago. *nods* So yeah.

But anyway...I just wanted to make a post on here stating that I finally, Finally, FINALLY opened up my new online store, Caitlin's Crafty Creations. It is super cool, and full of awesomeness and wonder. So you should definitely check it out, and probably buy lots of stuff too, because I can always use more money.

So yeah...check it out here: Caitlin's Crafty Creations

Hooray for me! And my store! And, most importantly...me! :D


(FYI, Shameless Advertising = +100000000000 Internets)


~o~*~o~
"Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica."
-Jim on The Office

All normal people love meat. ..I'm trying to impress people here. You don't win friends with salad!

I just realized that I never posted my last two "Rants On Everything Pissing Me Off at the Moment" blogs on here, and only on my Facebook/MySpace. So yeah...I'm gonna go ahead and post both of those now. However, since they're already considerably long, I'm going to do it in two separate blogs as opposed to just one blog, because if I were to combine the two into one, it would be WAY too long. So yeah...I'm gonna go ahead and do it in two. So there. Part 7 can be found directly below, and Part 6 can be found in the next blog below this one, both as they were originally written on my Facebook/MySpace. So yeah. Word up to ya mutha.


I promised there would be another one. And I’m not one to go back on my word. So, without getting into too much info before I even start, I bring you - Rants On Everything Pissing Me Off at the Moment: Part 7.

Now, in my last post, I attacked two main points: the Christianity and the Straightedge labels. And last time, I mentioned that I wanted to focus on other topics like this, specifically vegetarianism. Which I am now going to do. So prepare yourselves, because, as with my last post, there’s a good chance this will offend you. Buckle up, douchebags: you’re in for a ranty ride. (Hahaha…that sounded awesome…I am amazing…)

Sooo…vegetarianism. Where to begin with how much this topic has the tendency to aggravate me? Hmm…well, maybe beginning with myself is a good place to start. Because, guess what? For basically three or so months, I was a vegetarian. I know. Shocking. Sickening, in fact. I decided I wanted to try to go vegetarian because I thought it would be “healthier.” And, fact of the matter is, for a lot of people, cutting meat out of their diet does make them healthier. In my case, however, that wasn’t so, because instead of eating meat, I ate a bunch of crap. In the words of Dana, it was pretty much like, “Ooh, cupcake! That doesn’t have meat in it! *CHOMP!*”

I eventually realized that cutting meat out of my diet didn’t make me any healthier, and therefore decided to drop the vegetarian thing. Not only that, but there was no freaking way that I was going to make it through Thanksgiving Day with just plain mashed potatoes and some cranberry sauce. Because, quite frankly, I love meat, and I was not ready to completely give up my turkey, meaty stuffing, and every other non-vegetarian food item all smashed and piled together on one plate with a 24 ounce river of meaty gravy poured over the top. Heck. No. So, my last day as a vegetarian was the day before Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving morning, I woke up, knowing that my true destiny of being an omnivore had been re-instated. And I was one very happy, very meat-loving SOB that day, you better believe it.

Now, what’s my whole problem with vegetarians/vegetarianism/
etc, then? For the most part, the people. Now, this, again, does not apply to everyone, but it does apply to the vast majority of the people that I’ve met and know who consider themselves vegetarians. Overall, I’m fine with people not wanting to eat meat. I think it’s stupid, yeah, because meat is delicious and I can’t understand the reasoning behind not wanting to eat a nice, juicy, pickles-mayonaise-ketchup-mustard-cheese-lettuce-tomato-and-onion-covererd-burger, but it’s not like it’s that big of a deal. I mean, if someone wants to be a vegetarian because they think it’s healthier or because of some “animal rights” thing, then that’s their prerogative, and who am I to say I’m better because I do choose to eat meat? Right. So, it’s not the whole concept that bothers me.

Like I said, more often than not, it’s the people. Because, quite frankly, many vegetarians are just…well, douchebags, to be honest. Again, pardon my unfair generalization, because not everyone is like this, but a lot of people are. It’s like, people who don’t eat meat need to, A, rub it in your face that they don’t and you do and therefore that makes them more superior, and B, constantly badger you about why they’re vegetarian and why you absolutely need to be as well. That pisses me off. Look, just because you want to live your life without touching a chicken nugget doesn’t mean that I want to or should have to. Those people chose to be vegetarians, and I chose not to be. End of story. I shouldn’t be constantly hounded by these people every time that I eat around them simply because I’m eating something that they don’t like. That’s stupid, and really freaking annoying.

Look at it this way: say you’re a Christian, and you have someone come up to you who’s Buddhist, or Hindu, or Muslim, or even a Zoroastrian. Take your pick – it doesn’t really matter. Now, say this person who is affiliated with this other religion starts badgering you about why your religion is wrong, and why theirs is right, and why you need to stop believing what you believe and start believing what they believe right away, because otherwise you’re committing some huge, immoral sin or whatever. Can you picture that in your head? Do you get how annoying and stupid that is? Because that’s what has happened to me a million times, only I’m not a Christian (relatively speaking), and that person is not Buddhist or Muslim or whatever. Try replacing me with a person who eats meat, and the other person with someone who is a vegetarian. Yeah, that’s what it’s like.

I don’t understand why people who don’t eat meat seem to take it personally whenever I eat meat in front of them or something. It’s like, what, am I not supposed to enjoy a meal? Am I only supposed to eat meat around my meat-eating friends, and then stick to vegetables and tofu and soy around my non-meat-eating friends? Because, quite frankly, that’s the most retarded idea ever. If I was eating with a vegetarian, I wouldn’t expect them to eat meat too, just because I do, and I certainly wouldn’t take offense if they were to eat something without meat. So why should they take it personally if I do eat a nice, big slab of steak? It doesn’t make any sense to me. If anything, it just pisses me off.

Also, most people who are vegetarians – or, I should say, most of the ones I know anyway – don’t eat or stopped eating meat because it’s “wrong.” They think that it’s wrong to kill animals for food, that it’s inhumane; basically that’s it’s one of the worst things a person can do. Now, again, if you believe in that, that’s all fine and well, and I say, good for you. However, I also say, ARE YOU FREAKING RETARDED?!

First of all, since when has eating animals become a bad thing? Why is it wrong to eat the meat off an animal? I’m going to go back to the age-old argument that, if we were not civilized beings like we are today, all of use would be running around fields right now, probably butt naked, and feasting on animals, probably with the bones and fur still attached. Hell, we’d probably be eating each other, if it came down to it. However, one might then argue that we are a civilized society, though, and therefore should have the common knowledge and decency not to eat animals. But guess what? That gene still hasn’t kicked in on me. I still like my animal flesh, thank you very much, and lots of other people do, too. Why? Because it’s not freaking wrong. Why is eating an animal wrong? Because it was living? Well, guess what, douchebags, all those vegetables you’re eating are living things, too! Just because they don’t grow fur and hop around and take a dump in your backyard doesn’t mean that they’re not living. And how about that tofu you’re eating? Guess what? That came from a soy bean, and that soy bean was a living thing. So, really, you’re still eating something that was once alive. And now you killed it, and processed it into a tasteless block of white mush that you’re using as a meat substitute. Bravo, retards. You lose. (For the record, I actually like tofu. However, I like real meat way better. One small piece of ground beef could kick a block of tofu’s ass any day of the week.)

Oh, and another thing: if you were standing out in nature, and you walked up to a freaking bear and were like, “Hey, I’m a vegetarian, so I’m not going to eat you,” it would waste no time in knocking your head clean off. Why should we feel bad about killing animals if animals don’t feel bad about killing us? As far as I’m concerned, every shark that I eat is one less shark that’s going to eat me.

Some people might still say that it’s wrong to be killing animals for food. But guess what? We’re doing the planet a favor. If we weren’t eating meat, all of the animals in the world would be all over each other, reproducing like there was no freaking tomorrow, and before you know it, there’d be eighteen bears living in my house and I’d be dead. And then what? No more freaking humanity, that’s what. We’re not eliminating species by eating meat; we’re keeping them under control so that they don’t eat us. Not only that, but a lot of cattle is raised specifically to be eaten, anyway. Again, I know there’re people sitting there reading this saying, “That’s so inhumane!! We shouldn’t be raising animals just so that they can die for our food!” Well, guess what? One, if we didn’t kill ‘em for food, they’d die eventually anyway. This way, we’re actually using the animal as opposed to just wasting it. Second, by raising cattle and chickens and other animals specifically to be butchered, it means that we’re saving all of your precious, natural wildlife. By breeding and raising cattle, we’re saving all of the wild ones that were out there on their own from the get go. So shut up.

Then there’s the slaughterhouses. Vegetarians are all like, “Oh, slaughterhouses are so terrible! They kill the animals and chop them up and process them and give them to stores to sell to us!”



WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ARGUMENT?! Of COURSE they cut the animals up! What, you expect them to just shoot a cow and then hang it in the grocery store, fully intact with all it’s organs and eyeballs and stuff hanging out? Are you really that retarded? Of course they’re going to cut the darned thing up, and of course they’re going to butcher it and process it and everything. What else are they going to do? Good Lord Almighty… And as for slaughterhouses being an inhumane way to kill an animal, let me just ask you one question: is there really any humane way to do it? No. They’re not going to read it a story, give it a dish of ice cream and a pat on the back, and just hope that it dies within the next few minutes so that they can eat it. They have to kill it. Point blank. Therein might lie your problem, but guess what? Eating my roast beef sandwich far surpasses my care for whether or not my cow was killed “properly” or not.

Another thing I don’t quite understand is why it’s okay for vegetarians to eat some kind of meat – say, fish – but not others – say, beef, chicken, or pork. Now, granted, when I was a vegetarian, I did eat fish and wouldn’t eat any other form of meat, but again, bear in mind that I was doing it more for health reasons and not because I’m against killing animals for food. But for those that say it’s wrong to kill a cow in order to have a hamburger, why is it then okay for someone to catch and kill a fish in order for you to have a bowl of tuna salad? That makes no sense to me whatsoever. Also, why is it okay for you to wear a leather belt or leather-soled shoes when the leather came from a cow’s hide? If you’re against killing an animal for fur, then why not killing it for leather? And really, if you’re that concerned about the welfare of animals, why even drink milk that comes from a cow in “captivity?” Or eating eggs that come from chickens who are kept in similar circumstances? After all, isn’t that like eating an aborted chicken fetus? Let’s just say all dairy products in general; if it’s got milk in it, why are you eating it? As far as I’m concerned, being a vegetarian because you’re all for animal rights is bullshit. It’s like your saying, “I’m not going to eat meat because it’s wrong!” but then turning around and saying, “I’ll have an egg-salad sandwich and a glass of milk because it’s not the same thing.” That is freaking ridiculous. I think vegans are even more insane than vegetarians, but at least they’re sticking to what they really believe. My thoughts are basically either be a vegan, or be a meat-eater. There should be none of this, “in-between” BS. Because that’s just stupid.

Still, the thing that probably confuses and pisses me off the most is the concept of “fake meat.” Again, I’ll admit that, when I went veggie, I was a person who bought and consumed some of this so-called “fake meat.” I ate Boca Burgers, Gardenburger Ribs, Morningstar Chicken Patties, and some crazy off-brand soy Salami lunch meat. But again, let me remind you that I wasn’t against eating animals; I was doing it for health reasons. Let me also remind you that, looking back, I realize I was being a moron when I chose to become a vegetarian. That being said, let me continue.

I don’t understand why so many vegetarians who are so opposed to eating meat because it’s supposedly morally wrong would eat a MEAT SUBSTITUTE. So, what, because it’s made with soy or tofu or tempeh or something instead of actual meat makes it okay? Um, NO. It’s IMITATING MEAT. People are eating it because it TASTES LIKE MEAT, FEELS LIKE MEAT, SMELLS LIKE MEAT, and REMINDS THEM OF MEAT, it’s just a “vegetarian version” of it. Heck, that’s why I was eating it, and I’ll be damned if other vegetarians/vegans aren’t eating it for the same reasons. It’s not like they’re going, “Well, I just want to buy all of these meat substitutes because I feel like it.” No, they are deliberately buying them, because it allows them to enjoy meat, without actually eating meat. And, in my humble (but nonetheless right) opinion, that’s called cheating, boys and girls.

Vegetarians need to learn that, if they want to not eat meat, then fine. However, they also need to know that, if they’re doing it for animal right’s reasons, then again, while it’s totally their choice and their prerogative and, really, I have no say in the matter, that I am still going to think that they are retarded. Point blank. If you’re going to be a vegetarian, fine. That’s your choice. However, remember that it’s my – and millions of other people’s – choice to not be a vegetarian, and that, since we don’t sit here day in and day out trying to force you to eat meat, that you should do us the same favor. We already know that you think it’s wrong that we’re eating meat and that you have chosen not to eat it, and fine, whatever, that’s cool; you also know, however, that we don’t think it’s wrong, and that we do enjoy eating it, otherwise we wouldn’t be eating burgers, right? So seriously: freaking back off. Really, no one else cares that you’re a vegetarian, and you’re only pissing people off by rubbing in their faces that you are and that we’re all basically going to hell for not doing the same. So really, just lay off. You go back to shoveling blocks of tofu in your mouth, and I’ll get on with eating my large, rather appetizing looking piece of cow flesh, and we’ll all be fine. Because, I swear, the next vegetarian who tries to preach to me about how what I choose to put in my own mouth is wrong and deeply offends them will wake up to smell of bacon cooking in their room one morning, with piles of raw, bloody meat thrown in piles around their room. Also, in the words of the great, amazing, king of the internet known as Maddox, know that, “For every animal you don’t eat, I’m going to eat three.” So put that in your soy pipes and smoke it.

And of course, JESUS DID NOT HAVE THREE HEADS!!!!!



Photo courtesy of http://maddox.xmission.com

I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman!

I just realized that I never posted my last two "Rants On Everything Pissing Me Off at the Moment" blogs on here, and only on my Facebook/MySpace. So yeah...I'm gonna go ahead and post both of those now. However, since they're already considerably long, I'm going to do it in two separate blogs as opposed to just one blog, because if I were to combine the two into one, it would be WAY too long. So yeah...I'm gonna go ahead and do it in two. So there. Part 6 can be found below, and Part 7 can be found above, both as they were originally written on my Facebook/MySpace. So yeah. Word up to ya mutha.



It's about damn time I got another one of these things out. It's been like, what, almost a year? Damn son!! Haha, yeah…good times… But anyway… So, because I've been so horribly pissed off lately, I decided I'd pull another one of these things out of my butt. Because, honestly, it needs to be done. However, like the previous blog in this series, this rant is again going to have more of a point to it instead of being just about pointless stuff that pisses me off for no reason other than the fact that it's horribly gay and stupid. I mean, all of this stuff that I'm going to be mentioning in here is horribly gay and stupid, but…well, I'm sure you get what I mean… So, this all brings me to – Rants on Everything Pissing Me Off at the Moment: Part 6.


Okay, so in all honesty, this blog is going to be very, very angry. I mean, all of my blogs are, but this one is especially angry. And it's almost-surely going to offend people, a lot of whom are my friends. But you know what? I've stood by these opinions that are going to be contained here for a long time, and I'm going to continue to stand by them no matter how many people I'm going to offend, because I know that some of this stuff needs to be said. Now. So, let's skip the whole nice, ease-your-way-into-this intro, and get right to the point, shall we?

You know what really bugs me? The fact that we're labeling things that should NOT be labeled. What sorts of things, you may ask? Well, because this is going to be long enough as it is, let's just focus on two for the time being, shall we? The "straightedge" label and the "Christian" label. People wear the aforementioned things like a label, and quite frankly, that pisses me off to no end. When did a choice, a belief – a freaking lifestyle – that is so personal become so…open, for lack of a better word?

I hate that being straightedge has suddenly (okay, maybe not suddenly…but it's become a lot more apparent with people I know recently) become a trend statement. I hate that people advertise the fact that they're Straightedge. Don't get me wrong – I've stated it before in these blogs (see: Rants On Everything Pissing Me Off at the Moment: Part 2) – I'm all for the straightedge beliefs and concepts, but that doesn't mean I support the way people are "advertising" their beliefs. It seems that a lot of people who are straightedge "flaunt it," for lack of a better expression, when in reality, it should be a private thing.

It's not like I'm saying that you can't tell people that you're not into drugs or sex or drinking or whatever, but there's no reason to be advertising it all over, either. Fact of the matter is, you make yourself seem conceited and big-headed when you do, because it seems as though the people that flaunt it all the time think that they're better than you are; it's like they go out of their way to tell you, "Guess what? I don't smoke or drink or have sex because it's wrong and you shouldn't do it, and because you do do it, that automatically makes me a step above you." I'm sure that's not everyone's reason in being so verbal about it, but guess what? You still come off that way.

Again, like I said, I'm all for the concepts of being straightedge. I'm straightedge myself. That's right – I don't drink, I've never smoked anything in my life, and honestly don't plan to, and I've never had sex and don't feel the need to until I get married. I've never even had a freaking boyfriend. So, in essence, I'm just as straightedge as the person who walks around with a straightedge shirt and x's on their hands. But the thing is, you don't see me going around boasting about the fact that I'm drug-, alcohol-, and sex-free. And I think I'm better off because of it. Because choosing to do that should be for your own personal reasons, your own personal beliefs. It's not something to be used for bragging rights. It is a personal decision that you should make, because you have moral standards set for yourself or you want to keep yourself healthy or whatever. It's not something that you do just so you can parade it around and make yourself look like a complete and total douchebag. Jebus Cripes.

Going along with this, like I mentioned, is the "Christian" label. That, quite possibly, pisses me off even more than the straightedge label. Again, since when did it become trendy to be a Christian? Not that I'm complaining about people wanting to know and have a personal relationship with Jesus – as with the straightedge thing, I'm totally for it. I'm a Christian, I love God, Jesus is my Homeboy and I have a personal and loving relationship with him, I go to church, have been on numerous church retreats and two mission trips, and all-around just love God. But again, there's a point when being "on fire for God" turns into "being a completely unbearable asshole."

Again, I'm totally down with people being Christian's and sharing Christ's love with others, but there's a point where you need to take a step back and just stop. And it seems like a lot of people don't get that. It's as if some people feel the need to be like, "Hey, look at me! I'm a Christian! I love Jesus! And guess what? Because you're not a Christian, that automatically makes me better than you!" It's the same as the people who flaunt the fact that they're straightedge; they use Christianity more as a label, as a set of bragging rights, as a way to make themselves feel like they're better than others, which is totally and completely against what being a Christian means.

Being a Christian is about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and because of that, living out in a way that God would want us to. It's about loving others not matter what they believe or how they act, and, yes, it's also about sharing God's love with others, whether it's by sharing the "Gospel Message" with them or simply doing them a favor when they need it. It is NOT about using God's name as a way to boost yourself up above others, and it is NOT about forcing your beliefs on other people. Especially the latter…I mean, people who force their beliefs on others, and who say that they're better because of what they believe, really aggravate me. You cannot force someone to be a Christian. God gave us free will; he gave us a choice. Get that? A CHOICE. And if someone chooses not to be a Christian, then that's their prerogative, and you have no right to badger them further.

The Bible also says not to, "bring your pearls before swine," which means that if someone is truly against Christianity and doesn't want any part of it, then we should not continue to share the Good News of Christ with them if it's obviously not doing any good. Obviously, there are some people who have probably been hesitant about Christianity at first, and have later become Christians, but that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about are the people that are completely committed to their own, other religion – or lack thereof – and don't want any part of Christianity, and yet some still continue to try to force their Christian beliefs on them. That is NOT cool.

I can't stand when people just stand there and flaunt their beliefs around like that, as if they have to make sure that everyone precisely knows that they are a Christian. In all honesty, you shouldn't really have to tell people that you are a Christian. Again, I'm not against it, but if you have to parade it around for someone to realize it, then you might have a problem. Being a follower of Christ is something that should be evident by the way you act and the things that you do. While people aren't always going to know specifically that you are a Christian by what you do, they should be able to tell that there is something different about you, something that is "Christ-like." That is what being a Christian is about. It is about living in a Christ-like way; it is about following and living lives that are focused on living out in a way that Christ would. That's not to say that we don't all slip up from time to time, because we do – that's human nature, something that has been stitched into us from the first sin of Adam and Eve. However, that's not to say that it makes it okay either; we are supposed to try our best to live Christ-like lives. And honestly, continually advertising your beliefs in a way that makes people single you out as a "religious hypocrite," or, more plainly, an annoying douchebag, is not something that you want to be doing.

I want to keep going…I really do…but I think that this is long enough already. Also, I have about twelve essays to write before tomorrow afternoon. So I'm going to stop. Besides, like always, I don't know if I'm making sense anymore, and I sense that I've probably already pissed off enough people. But don't worry – I'm by no means done with these rants. Eventually, I'll get another one of these up here and pick up where I left off here. But for now…I'm going to post this without reading over it again, without proof-reading, and without spell-check. Because I am lazy, and at this point, I am tired and I don't care.

And, so silly of me, really, to have left this out of the previous blog in this series: JESUS DID NOT HAVE THREE HEADS!!!!!

End of rant.